Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Emmanuel Macron, claiming the French "were starting to learn German" until the US intervened in the First and Second World Wars.

In his latest rebuke of the French president - who last week called for a "real European army" to defend the continent against China, Russia and even the US - Mr Trump appeared to insult the role played by Paris in both of the conflicts.

Mr Trump visited Paris for a weekend of events commemorating 100 years since the end of the First World War, and had a frosty meeting with his French counterpart in front of cameras at the Elysee Palace on Saturday morning.

He was also criticised for cancelling a visit to US war cemetery Belleau Wood on Saturday afternoon due to "bad weather".

The French military poked fun at the president on Twitter with pictures of them training in the rain.

Using the hashtag #MondayMotivation, they wrote: "Il y a de la pluie, mais c'est pas grave [it is raining, but it's not a big deal]."

The US president reiterated his complaint about the amount Europe contributes to NATO, and said: "Different countries have to also help and it's only fair... and the president (Mr Macron) and I very much agree on that."

Mr Macron said that while he agreed, he thought it was "unfair" for European security to be overly-reliant on the US.

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Video:Merkel calls for European army

And in a speech to the European parliament, Germany's leader Angela Merkel, said she had a vision of a "real, true" European army - drawing applause and some boos.

She added that the proposal could be run in parallel to trans-Atlantic cooperation within the NATO military alliance, but underscored that "only a stronger Europe is going to defend Europe".

"Europe must take our fate into our own hands if we want to protect our community," she said.

Mrs Merkel's ambition for Europe came just days after she announced she would stand down following her term in office in 2021.

Mr Macron's rallying cry was echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a peace forum in the city later in the day, but neither warning seems likely to be heeded by Mr Trump.

The Republican has repeatedly criticised the amount of money Europe commits to NATO compared to the US, and earlier this year suggested allies double their targeted 2024 spending commitment from 2% of their GDP to 4%.